


Taught To The Tune

by Admiralish



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: BDSM, Established Relationship, M/M, Post-Canon, Spanking, Teacher/Student Roleplay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-14 01:28:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29785101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Admiralish/pseuds/Admiralish
Summary: “...You wannalick me?”Ed looked as if this was the absolute most insane thing he had ever heard. “Forfun?”Roy cocked his head back and forth, thinking over his response. There was very little room for poetry when given such a direct question.“I suppose I do.”Ed’s choked laugh was one of utter disbelief. “And you think I’dlet you?”
Relationships: Edward Elric/Roy Mustang
Comments: 10
Kudos: 42





	Taught To The Tune

**Author's Note:**

> If you can't handle period-accurate discussions of corporal punishment, then buddy, you better start running.

“Last stop on the Resembool tour! Hey, anybody here?” Ed called, sticking his head through the open door. “Yoo-hoooo!”

He bounced back quickly at the perfectly silent response, grinning at Roy’s skeptical expression. “All ours! C’mon, take a look.”

“Some alma mater you got there, FullMetal…” Roy mused, eyeing the unassuming exterior of the schoolhouse with an almost amused sort of contempt. The “insiders tour” of Resembool was hardly a luxurious experience, but Ed was showing off dirty creekbeds and old schoolhouses with an unrivaled pride.

“I told you, it’s Ed,” the boy added, poking the older man’s chest. “I don’t work for you anymore, so don’t go acting like it.”

Always in motion, Ed did not wait for a reply. He swung himself into the classroom with a hand rooted to each side of the doorframe, beaming at what Roy assumed must be very nostalgic scenery.

“Damn, nothing changes here…” Ed spoke wistfully, planting his palms on his hips. Roy had heard that a lot today. He felt like he could’ve guessed nothing in a place like this would change much over the few short years of Ed’s manic adolescence, but apparently, this was news to the Resembool native himself.

Shaking his head, Roy followed the exuberant teen into the musty building.

“It’s definitely… quaint,” Roy offered, rolling his eyes up to the rafters to investigate further. Cobwebs. Looked like a hundred of the damn things. The whole place looked dusty and half-abandoned, but the faint warmth even in the dying of the day told him the wood-burning stove at the front of the room had been of use to _someone_ today.

Aside from the webs and dirt, the room was well organized. Desks and benches in orderly rows, neatly grouped and divided into two halves. Small imperfections, handmade touches. Smudged-out chalk doodles in the corners of the blackboard, initials carved into the windowsill with crude tools.

“You don’t sound very impressed, General,” Ed huffed, his expression stern but his tone playful.

“I thought we weren’t using titles anymore,” Roy reminded with a smirk, leaning back against the edge of the desk in the front row and hoping whatever child had to study there tomorrow wouldn’t mind his intrusion. “So. Gimme the whole tour. Which desk was yours?”

Ed lit up, bounding past Roy to one of the desks.

“Me ‘n Al did _plenty_ of experimenting to test out which of these seats is the most _ideal_ ,” Ed began, and Roy couldn’t help but chuckle. Something about this boy’s simple joy was infectious. “And I am _proud_ to announce—” Ed paused to kick a boot up onto the small wooden bench behind his desk of choice. “— _this_ one passed every test!”

Roy’s chuckle grew into genuine laughter at Ed’s pride over such an insubstantial discovery. “What makes it so special?”

“Halfway between the front and back of the classroom means you’re still close enough to the stove to not get cold in the winter, but not so close as to get sleepy,” Ed began, gesturing as if this was an especially scientific formula. “And it’s close enough to the girls’ side that we could get Nellie to pass notes over to Winry for us.”

“Passing notes?” Roy echoed, tickled by the thought. “Well, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised to hear you were never the most attentive student.”

Ed snorted, an ugly noise that was beginning to grow on Roy. “Yeah, I guess I was, uh… Let’s just say these country classrooms were below my level!” 

“Oh, so you think you could’ve cut it in a city school?” Roy asked with a challenging hum. “You know, the schoolmasters in Central are not nearly as permissive about things like note passing.”

“ _Permissive_!” Ed scoffed, offended at Roy making light of his experience. “Miss Wickmann was definitely _not_ permissive.”

“Oh, no?” Roy raised his eyebrows playfully at Ed’s sudden defense. “Then tell me. What’s the punishment for passing notes?”

“I had to stand at the blackboard,” Ed pointed to the front of the room, illustrating his disdain. “For like, _forever_.”

“Wow, a whole forever? Must’ve been tough,” Roy smirked at Ed’s responsive scowl. “When I was growing up it was still three across your knuckles. ’Would’ve loved to just be put against the board for that.”

Roy remembered thinking that Ed was such an awful little thing when he was younger, all scrunched-nosed pouts and fussy tantrums. It was strange to think that even the boy’s pouting had become more handsome with age, if no less childish. For all his trepidation, Roy could not deny that time spent in service to one’s nation seemed to be the best way to turn a sniveling boy into a proper young man.

“Though, perhaps I wouldn’t have minded being punished quite so much if it was under a feminine hand,” Roy continued, musing idly as if the idea were entirely new to him, and not a well-worn path of fetishtic encounters. “I suppose there really is a lot to be jealous of out here. I can see why you like it so much.”

“If you’re thinking she went easy on us just because she’s a woman then you _really_ don’t understand how we do things out here. But hey, if you wanna find out for yourself, there are two proper East Area women waiting for us back at the house who would be plenty happy t’ smack that stupid grin off your face for ya.”

Ed was so easy to guide through conversations, it made Roy feel almost criminal.

“Oh? So it wasn’t all just time-outs for you, hm?”

“Of course not!” Ed defended with hands planted on his hips. “She licked us plenty. You ask any boy in the village, they’ll know!”

_Licked._ This child was filled with such delightful ruralisms.

Roy pretended to process the information slowly, a grin still fixed to his lips. “Hmm… Maybe I should ask her for some tips on keeping you in line. She seems to have the right idea.”

“Uh, _no._ In case you forgot, I don’t report to _you_ anymore, _Mustang.”_

“Well, perhaps not regularly. But you know, I’ve been thinking it might be fun to... _return to our roots_ , so to speak,” Roy broached the topic almost humorously, hoping a casual approach would make his point an easier sell. “Nostalgic, even.”

Ed laughed. “You already got me with that recruitment spiel once, dumbass, it’s not working twice.”

“No, no, we’re not talking work— though I am always grateful for reminders of my severely under-recognized salesmanship,” Roy hoped his boasting would earn him a smile, though Ed seemed unwilling to budge. “I’m saying I’d probably enjoy a chance to set you straight every once in a while. Just between us, of course. You know, for fun.”

“...You wanna _lick me?”_ Ed looked as if this was the absolute most insane thing he had ever heard. “For _fun?”_

Roy cocked his head back and forth, thinking over his response. There was very little room for poetry when given such a direct question.

“I suppose I do.”

Ed’s choked laugh was one of utter disbelief. “And you think I’d _let you?”_

“Come on, you said you wanted to bring a little more excitement into the bedroom, right? So how about we start with something you know you can take.”

Ed did not look sold on the idea. In fact, he looked completely disgusted with it. “I don’t know if me getting my ass beat is the kind of excitement I was talking about…”

“Well, how about I cut you a deal,” Roy offered sweetly, reaching out to pull Ed between his thighs. Ed made a show of being uncooperative, but ultimately allowed himself to be held, his back to Roy’s chest, his ponytail whipping lightly across Roy’s cheek as he huffed in annoyance at the topic. “You let me _lick you_ — as you say here—”

“As _everyone_ says.”

“—And when we get back home, we can have a little _alone time,_ and I’ll make sure to _lick you_ somewhere I _know_ you’ll like,” Roy finished off his pitch with a soft kiss at the tanned base of Ed’s neck. “Does that sound sufficiently _equivalent_ to you?”

“...I’ll hold you to it.”

“I would hope so.”

“And you’re not allowed to complain.”

“If I say a single word against it, you can stand me against the board for as long as you’d like.”

“...Fine. It’s a deal,” Ed agreed, blowing stray blonde locks away with a puff of air from his lips. “But I’m picking the stick.”

“I assumed that was traditional,” Roy hummed idly, resting his chin against Ed’s shoulder.

“Yeah, but I don’t trust you to do it,” Ed pulled away from Roy’s embrace, heading for the schoolhouse’s open doorway, ponytail whipping behind him with every step. Roy remembered hating that boy’s hair, but now he was so grateful he’d never talked him into cutting it. “ _City boy._ ”

Ed said the words like they were some sort of insult. Roy didn’t see how being raised in a place with cars and schools and properly cobbled streets could possibly be seen as demeaning, but he supposed to each their own.

“ _Bumpkin_ ,” he called after Ed, craning his neck to see if he could get a peek of the boy’s reaction. No such luck. The kid was already gone.

Roy sighed up at the rafters and their thriving community of spiderwebs, instantly bored without the company of his side’s favorite thorn. His gaze fell to the desk beneath him, and to a small black slate left abandoned on the work surface. Some more hunting produced chalk from inside the desk.

That was good enough entertainment.

It took a bit longer than he expected for Ed to return with a suitable rod, but after a handful of minutes his partner returned with the requested implement and a tight-lipped frown to match.

“Look. I drew us,” Roy said with a grin, holding out his slate proudly. His crudely erotic stick-figure art earned him a very unimpressed look from his ex-subordinate.

“...You’re a shit artist.”

“I’m better with dogs than people,” Roy shrugged. “In art and in life.”

“Just make sure you remember to erase it before someone sees. There’s no health class in Resembool.”

“I will, I will,” Roy conceded, setting his masterpiece aside and rising to his feet. “But you know, if we’re gonna do this right, you should let me give the orders again.”

“Oh, so that’s why you wanted to do this…” Ed gave an exaggerated roll of his eyes, but Roy could see the corners of his mouth twitch upward as they spoke. “You miss having me around the command that bad, huh?”

“What’s wrong with a little roleplay?” Roy asked, grinning at the thought. “I’ve had a few naughty little schoolgirls over my knee before— I’ve been told I make an excellent schoolmaster.”

Ed’s nose scrunched up at the thought. He seemed to particularly detest Roy’s stories of his excursions with the fairer sex.

“Just try it. You might like it!” Roy said, holding out his hand for the rod. Ed’s eyes cast hesitantly towards the implement before he placed it in Roy’s waiting palm. “Can you think of a reason you’d like to be punished?”

“There’s gotta be a _reason?”_

“I can’t get into character otherwise,” Roy teased, feeling the weight of the switch in his hand. He’d never used one himself, though he had a distinct memory of earning a swipe with one as a child. Now that he was holding it, he wondered if he even knew how to handle such a weapon. “How about I caught you touching yourself during your lessons? That’s pretty exciting, right? You can say you were thinking of _me.”_

“What kind of a pervert do you think I am?”

“We’re _roleplaying,_ Edward. You’re playing a _role_.”

“Just say I got in a fight or something.”

“Then I would assume there would be a second party in need of punishment as well,” Roy pointed out simply, further examining the tool he had been given. Slender and green, and not nearly as fragile as he had expected. It took effort to bow it in his hands, and even under that pressure it seemed determined not to break. “Of which, we are lacking.”

“Fine, fine,” Ed wracked his mind for a more compelling reason. “Shoved one of the girls. Y’know. Roughhousing out in the yard.”

Roy smirked at the oddly specific scenario, lifting his eyes from the rod to the boy it was intended for. “Tell me, Ed. Did you ever get switched for shoving girls out in the yard?”

Ed’s lips tightened into a frown. “...Winry’s always had a fat fucking mouth on her, I’ll tell you what.”

Roy laughed, more at Ed’s detestable pout than his retellings of childhood discipline.

“And how many did you get for it?”

“Four. I was pretty young.”

“Only four…” Roy mused, giving the rod an experimental swing. Even as lightly as he swung it, he could hear it cut through the air. This was definitely a new sort of tool for him, and he found himself a little uneasy around it. From the way Ed flinched at the sound, he supposed the feeling was mutual. “Like I said. Permissive.”

“ _Hey._ Four is a lot when you’re little!”

“Maybe so. But I think we should up the ante a bit this time around,” Roy smirked. “You’ve gotten a bit taller since then, we can probably fit a few more stripes on you. You wanna go for a full set?”

Ed considered the offer carefully.

“Do you think you’ll need a safeword?” Roy asked, dropping the teasing tone from his voice for a moment.

“Nah... I’ve gotten ten before,” Ed said, stubbornly. Roy knew this was all part of Ed’s ongoing charade of maturity, an unwillingness to accept that perhaps even at his age, there might be limits. “I can handle it.”

“...Quicksilver, then,” Roy added, with a sense of finality. “You can use it if you want to.”

Ed did not protest, which was his version of enthusiastic agreement.

“Let’s get this over with.”

“Alright,” Roy said, straightening up sternly and tucking the rod into neatly folded hands behind his back. He strode confidently towards the front of the room, trying to force down his amused grin. Ed watched him with arms crossed and hips cocked, looking the part of a disgruntled student without even trying. A part of Roy was left wondering if this boy would still be giving him a look like that if he’d been educated formally like any other boy, instead of leaving this dusty classroom behind for the soldiering life. “Mr. Elric, may I see you at the front of the class, please.”

Despite his phrasing, it was clearly not meant to be a question, and despite his stern tone, he received another exaggerated eye roll from Ed. The boy let his arms drop to his sides with a dramatic huff, following Roy to the front of the room.

“Awfully formal for a teacher.”

The comment struck him as odd, but he supposed it was just one more aspect of their relationship that could be chalked up to cultural differences.

“Try as I might, I don’t think I could possibly imitate your Eastern… eccentricities,” That was a polite way of referring to the grammatical nightmare that was Edward’s approach to the Amestrian language. Roy shuddered to think what would’ve become of him if he’d tried to bring all of those “y’all”s and “ain’t”s before any of _his_ schoolmasters.

Roy reached out to flick his finger against the younger boy’s forehead. “And no more comments like that. We’re in character now. I’m not going to be able to take it seriously if you’re talking like that.”

Despite his apprehensions, Ed’s pout was faltering. The corners of his lips twitched upwards even as he tried to force them down, a chuckle escaping him as he brought two hands up to shield his forehead.

“Sorry, am I ruining your fun?”

“Yes, actually,” Roy attempted a pout of his own, one he was most certain was at least three times cuter than anything the younger boy had ever thrown his way. “And here I am just trying to do something _fun_ for us…”

“Just hurry up and hit me, idiot.”

“Now you’re calling me names? I would _really_ hate to add an extra stroke, Ed.”

“Whatever. Where do you want me?”

Hm.

“Uh… Good question. Hold on,” Roy said, trying to figure out a plan of attack. Ed looked unimpressed with his “teacher’s” lack of foresight, but kept his mouth shut as Roy peered around the room. He had hoped perhaps Ed would be cooperative enough to offer some inspiration from his previous experiences in the position of the recipient, but Ed seemed more than comfortable watching his schoolmaster flounder. Ed’s response to Roy’s opposition was now as it always had been; obstinance, with a fat pout to match.

Roy’s eyes fell on the high stool beside the desk at the front of the room, assumedly a tool for further correction. He supposed that would do.

“Bring me the stool.”

Ed glanced sidelong at the object, then back at Roy. Finding no mercy in the man’s dark eyes, he huffed and complied, dragging himself across the rise of the classroom’s head and dragging the stool back with him. He placed it between the two of them, hands shooting back to his hips the instant he straightened up, golden eyes both annoyed and expectant, as if to snidely ask if this was meeting Roy’s standards.

“You couldn’t have added a ‘ _yes sir_ ’ to that one? Just for me?” Roy asked, breaking character a bit to express his disappointment in his “student’s” fractious approach to being disciplined. Would it kill him to look even a little bit cuter?

“No, sir.”

It was a genuine miracle that Roy had never attempted to punish the boy corporally during his time in service. He knew he’d thought about it. He knew he’d lingered over the memory of long-abandoned clauses on disciplinary action towards offending soldiers, practices out of use though never strictly abolished. His previous standing as Colonel would traditionally give him clearance for punitive measures, provided he had someone willing to stand witness to the lashing. Even at Edward’s most annoying Roy doubted the boy needed any lash heavier than a standard-issue belt to get him to _shut up and sit still_ , he was sure he could’ve talked _someone_ into officiating his desire to give their woefully incorrigible prodigy a humbling punishment. It would’ve solved so many of their problems...

“Then I suppose I was right to assume you needed to be kept back this afternoon,” Roy was well-practiced in forcing down any physical displays of emotion, but he felt it especially difficult to keep himself from smiling through his lines. It’d been a while since he’d had fun like this. “It is clear to me now that you have either chosen to ignore your manners or simply suffer from an inherent lack of them. Either way, I believe I can make myself of service in your correction.”

As he spoke, Ed instinctively straightened. Good. So he hadn’t lost his touch after all.

“After all, it is as much my responsibility to guide your upbringing as it is to teach you,” Roy continued, tapping the head of the implement gently against the flat of his open palm as he spoke. He watched Ed’s eyes follow the tip of the switch intently, as if it were a snake he was afraid was going to strike him. “And as of this moment, I do not see a proper young man standing before me. I see a foul-mouthed _brat_ in desperate need of a firm hand.”

Ed swallowed thickly, but remained indignant in his posture and silence. Roy would’ve expected someone more versed in these games to give him a little more to work with in terms of back and forth, but he supposed he could give the boy some leniency for his lack of creativity.

“Mr. Elric. Do you, or do you not understand me?”

“I, uh… Yeah,” Ed was a sloppy speaker. His sentences were always riddled with ‘um’s and ‘err’s. Another trait Roy was amazed to see the army had not scrubbed him of. “Yeah, I get it.”

Roy snapped the implement downward, letting it smack against the head of stool with a forceful _crack._ Ed startled at the sound, stumbling back a step with his hands raised, as if he expected some sort of ricochet.

“I expect a _yes, sir.”_

Roy was more impressed with the stick than anything else. He half-expected it to snap on contact, and if it had he wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to recover his dominating persona. Any dirty talking he tried on Ed would be tainted with the memory of the time he broke the branch he was supposed to be beating him with, all because Roy wanted to show off a little.

Ed’s hands lowered slowly, his chest rising and falling evenly as he worked through his moment’s start.

“O-oh, uh... _yes, sir._ Sorry, sir.”

“Much better,” Roy praised, allowing his smile to tug at the corners of his lips if only for a moment. “You’ve given me a lot of trouble in the past, Mr. Elric, and I have always been lenient with you. I see now that that was a mistake on my part. It seems children spared are indeed children spoiled. I expect a response, Mr. Elric.”

“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.”

“But I believe that even the most indignant of children can be whipped into shape.”

“Yes, sir.”

Goddamn, Roy didn’t think he’d ever seen Ed so instantly obedient. How was it that he was demanding more authority playing schoolhouse than he had as this boy’s commanding officer?

“I want to know you understand the trouble you’ve found yourself in, boy,” Roy continued, drinking in the smaller boy’s silent apprehension. He forgot how much he enjoyed these sorts of games, a heat beginning to pool in the pit of his groin as he spoke. “So, tell me why I’ve asked you to stay late today.”

Ed’s golden eyes were a curious thing. A creature of perpetual disproportion, they almost seemed too large for his face, and coming out on the other side of puberty had only done so much for them. He seemed caught in a perpetual headlight, taking in the world around him with a wide, glass-like stare, and today they seemed twice their usual size.

“Yes, sir,” Ed began, as if they were the only words he knew how to say anymore. The boy’s chin dropped slowly, eyes meeting the floor, but Roy could still see the rosy tips of the boy’s ears peeking out from behind his blonde locks. “I, uh… p-pushed?”

Not a very graceful explanation, but Roy would allow it. They would have plenty of time to practice this in the future.

“And do you believe that is how I would expect you to behave?”

“No, sir,” Ed responded instantly.

“Of course not. It’s childish, isn’t it?”

“Ah, uh… yes, sir.”

“And don’t you think you’re a little too old to still need me to watch you, Mr. Elric? Do you mean to tell me that even at your age I need to keep you in from the yard to keep you out of trouble?”

Ed picked his head up slowly, those wide eyes searching Roy’s face. Poor thing didn’t know if he was supposed to say yes or no to that one.

“I’m…” Ed hunted for words, a pink tongue running nervously across crooked teeth. “...It, uh, won’t happen again,” He paused a moment before adding, “ _Sir_.”

“Do you believe that will be enough to save your hide?”

Roy didn’t expect to get a laugh out of that one. A breathy chuckle, twinged with dread. Ed brought a fidgeting hand to his neck, rubbing anxiously. “It was... worth a shot…?”

Roy allowed his stern look to soften for a moment, delighted by the ways that Ed would always remain himself.

“I suppose I can appreciate your desire to make things right in post,” Roy drew the rod away from the stool, appreciating the small sounds this implement made as it cut through the air. It gave his sentences a little extra _kick._ “But I would’ve appreciated this level-headedness more if I did not have to threaten it out of you. I cannot always stand over you to make sure you’re behaving as you should, Full—”

Roy paused, trying to reclaim an ounce of authority as he saw Ed’s eyebrows rise towards the rafters. _Dammit_. He was doing so well.

“...Mr. Elric. That said, I’m certain I can make a gentleman out of you yet. You simply need a reminder that will stick with you,” Roy thought he managed to land that fumble with a fair amount of grace. “So next time you do not forget your manners.”

Try as he might to curl his lips inward, Roy could still see Ed’s malicious grin growing on his cheeks. His golden eyes studied the spiderwebs, doing an admittedly impressive job of keeping his giggles contained. Roy knew there was nothing this child loved more than watching him slip up.

“Is something funny, Mr. Elric?” Roy asked, forcing down his own grin with far greater success than his partner.

“No. No, sir,” Ed said with a careful breath, nodding at nothing in particular. “Let’s just get this over with.”

Ed took a step towards the stool, reaching out to place his palm upon it, and Roy rewarded his bravery with a hot stripe across the back of his hand.

_“Whatthefuck—”_ Ed cursed in a single breath, drawing his hand to his chest defensively and stumbling away from the sudden attack. _“Hey!_ Warn me before you do that, _asshole!”_

Roy raised an eyebrow at the language. “Do you need to use your safeword?”

_“No_ ,” Ed defended quickly, sounding almost offended at the thought as he rubbed a soothing palm over the burning stripe. “I just… forgot what that shit felt like...”

“If this is too much for you, we can always—”

“I said I’m _fine_ ,” Ed insisted, releasing his hand to prove how unaffected he was. “Forget I said that.”

“You never stopped the scene.”

“You’re the one bringing up _safewords.”_

“That was for your benefit, not mine,” Roy shrugged, drawing the rod back into the sheath of his palm and watching Ed move in parallel, moving towards Roy as the switch moved away from the stool. “In the future, if you need to stop—”

“Quicksilver, I got it, I got it…”

“...You’re the one who wanted excitement.”

“Yeah,” Ed grumbled, hands still itching to rub together and relieve the sting, but his pride refusing to afford them the luxury. “Me and my fat fucking mouth…”

“You might want to watch that language,” Roy smirked. “I doubt your teacher would appreciate it, and I hear he’s the type to add strokes for poor form.”

Ed’s pout was back in full-force in all it’s scrunched, flared, and bug-eyed glory. Roy gave the boy one last smile before allowing himself to step back into character. It was a natural transition for him, from concerned partner to stern disciplinarian.

“Mr. Elric,” The title had them both standing up a little straighter. “I expect you to acknowledge the method of correction before we can proceed.”

Golden brows knitted together in a look of confusion.

“Uh, whaddyou mean? Like, how?”

A part of Roy wanted to strike him again for the choice of words, but Roy felt that was probably only a trick he could get away with once before Ed was just going to throw in the towel and make sure they both went home frustrated.

“For your behavior, you’ll be lowering your pants and receiving ten strokes with the switch. I believe this punishment to be fitting of your age and stature. Do you agree?”

“Okay, you didn’t say anything about—”

Roy tapped the switch against the flat of his palm knowingly, eyebrows raised.

“...Okay, fine— _yes._ I understand, _sir.”_

“I expect you to count them,” Roy explained, and Ed nodded. “And furthermore, I expect you to thank me.”

That part did not receive a nod. “To thank you?”

“After each and every one,” Roy said brightly. “That shouldn’t be too hard, right?”

“No, I… yeah, I can do that, that’s fine.”

“Failure to comply with these terms will increase your punishment. Cursing will increase your punishment. Attempting to straighten up, remove yourself from the stool, or otherwise breaking position will reset our count to one, and I will expect an apology for wasting my time. Do you understand me?”

Ed seemed overwhelmed by the amount of information coming at him at once, but regardless, he agreed.

“Yes, sir. I understand.”

“Then you can lower your pants and we can begin.”

The words tickled him. It’d been way too long since he’d gotten to be in this position. As he watched Ed reach toward his belt with already marked hands, he could feel his own cock twitching interestedly. He’d definitely have to think of a proper finale for this little game of theirs.

Ed’s fingers worked stiffly over his buckle and fastenings, his embarrassment clear on his face. Thumbs hooking into the waist of his jeans, he eased them slowly away from his hips, buckle jingling loosely from the loops.

“Your underwear too.”

Ed grumbled something Roy couldn’t catch.

“Would you like to make it eleven, young man?”

“No, sir,” Ed replied, following suit with his boxers. Roy was glad that Ed was at least partially interested in his punishment, information gathered from the slight perk of his cock. He knew a teenager would still get hard at most anything, but it seemed as good a sign as any to continue.

“Now bend over the stool and grab the rung.”

Ed sighed, but it didn’t feel as sarcastic as Roy would expect. This was the sound of resignation, of Ed appreciating that yes, they were _actually_ going through with this. He stepped up to the stool bravely, jaw set tightly, and carefully positioned himself over it. He lowered himself gently until the flat of his abdomen was rested against the cool wood, his hands reaching down to grip the crossbar.

“Tell me again what you are being punished for, Edward,” Roy requested, feeling the boy jump beneath his palm as he brought it to rest on the small of his back. The touch was light, steadying, but Ed reacted as if it had burned him.

“Uh… Pushing. Pushed.”

It was almost a question. Like he wanted to confirm that was indeed his line.

“Very good,” Roy said, moving around Ed to stand behind him. Two golden eyes followed him the best they could in their position and he paused to admire the poised creature before him. He would’ve preferred a lot less clothes, but he doubted he would’ve been able to talk Ed into something like that here. Regardless, he appreciated the view. “And do you have anything to say for yourself?”

His defenses came out short and clipped. “S… shouldn’t have done it. ‘S wrong. Won’t happen again.”

Roy brought the switch to rest gently on the crest of the boy’s cheeks, watching them clench at even the lightest brush of the branch against unprotected skin.

“I’m glad to hear it.”

He tapped the rod twice against the meat of Ed’s ass, testing the weight of the implement and planning his attack. Even these small touches pulled hitched breaths from the boy, but he kept to his position rigidly. Roy’s hand pulled away slowly, monitoring the way Ed trembled and tightened at the switch’s absence, knowing it would be returning shortly.

The sound was definitely the worst part. Roy remembered that from his youth as well. As horrible a burn as the rod left, he did not think it would be even half as terrifying if not for that sickening _slice._

One flick of the wrist, one slice, and Ed was already bucking under his palm. He grunted, he writhed, but he held position well enough. Roy wondered if that would last.

“O- _one_ ,” Ed spat, as if the number disgusted him. Roy watched the boy’s skin come alive, seering a red line across his pale ass. He felt a bit cruel for finding the stripe so uniquely beautiful.

“What else?”

“Ah, thank you, sir…”

“Very good. Next time, I will not remind you.”

He brought the rod down again, directly below the first.

“ _Two_ ,” Ed squeaked out between gritted teeth, squirming under Roy’s palm. His weight shifted aimlessly between his legs, wiggling under the heat and sting of his punishment. “Mn, _ah_ — thank you sir…”

The boy’s noisings were going straight to his cock, and they made for an excellent incentive. Roy followed the marks downward, striking beneath the previous stripes as he made his way slowly towards the boy’s thighs.

“Thre- _ee,”_ Ed’s voice was lilting like it still wanted to crack. Roy suddenly missed hearing that boy’s sentences creak and snap beneath puberty’s weight.

Roy waited, but Ed did not speak again, aside from a low groan of discomfort as he squirmed against the stool.

This time he kept his sights locked on the same target, snapping the implement across the already raised skin.

“ _Ah—!”_ Ed’s cry came out clipped and broken. “F-fou—”

“That’s three, Elric.”

“W-we just did three…” Ed whined, trying to lift his head enough to see Roy’s face.

“I warned you that your punishment would increase if you failed to meet the standards I had set for you,” Roy reminded, tapping the tip of the branch lightly against the boy’s thigh. “When you fail to show your gratitude, we will repeat strokes, and if you argue with me again, I _will_ start over. Do you understand me?”

“Y-yeah, I understand, sir…”

“Then how many was that?”

“I-it was three,” Ed corrected, seeming to shrink against the wood. “Thank you, sir...”

“Better,” Roy affirmed, returning to the previously plotted course and taking aim at unmarked flesh. The sound of the rod cutting its way through the air was no longer quite as stomach-churning. Now, he found the sound quite exciting. “And how many was that?”

“ _Four_ ,” Ed counted, rising onto his toes and dropping himself back down onto the flats of his feet. Roy had a going theory that if Edward Elric ever stood perfectly still for a total of ten seconds, he would die on the spot. “Thank you.”

“Thank you, _sir.”_

“Thank you, _sir!”_

The switch struck down again with a _crack,_ the skin beneath it blossoming in an instant. Roy watched it brighten into a rosy pink and darken to a cherry red with great interest.

“Th-thi…” Ed slurred through a mouthful of saliva. He paused to swallow, letting his head hang limply towards the floor. “ _Six._ Thank you, sir, thank you…”

“I appreciate your enthusiastic gratitude, Ed,” Roy praised, watching the layer of baby fat that still clung to the boy’s slender thighs quiver as he shuddered through his punishment. “You’re taking this very well.”

In response, there was only a low groan that Roy understood to be the universal language of teenage affirmation. A translation into any language worth speaking would be something like _I haven’t died yet, but I’m thinking about it,_ or possibly, _Yes, I promise I’m going to start getting ready for school any minute now._ Roy would place his bets on it being the former.

Roy had perhaps overestimated the size of his partner. Ed’s petite build was something Roy had always adored, but when it came to finding enough room on his ass to fit ten stripes, it was becoming problematic. They were already approaching the undercurve Ed’s cheeks, and with four left, Roy was wondering if the last strike would have to make room on the boy’s thighs.

The crack of the switch echoed in the small room, Ed’s pained cry bouncing with it.

“S- _seventhankyousir,_ ” Ed’s words tumbled out of him like he couldn’t breathe with them all trapped in his throat.

Roy was already regretting going for ten. Twelve lashes would’ve been plenty appropriate for a soldier, and he felt he could’ve definitely added at least _one_ more for Ed’s pottymouthing. He half-hoped Ed would slip up and let him get in a few more whacks.

“It stings, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, sir…” Ed knocked his forehead gently against the crossbar of the stool, breaths coming out heavy. “Like a bi— _uhhh…_ ”

Roy raised an eyebrow, waiting to judge Ed’s recovery.

“B… bee…”

Roy had to step away for a moment, his hand leaving Ed’s back to cover his own mouth. Now it was his turn to break character, chuckling.

“Nice save…” Roy shook quietly, trying to recollect himself. Maybe this was why Ed was the way he was. Maybe, for all his greasy hair and bug-eyed looks, there was still something about him that stole the wrath from every open palm.

God help the poor souls who had met their match, and God help Edward Elric, who was never really going to be given what he deserved.

“Now who’s stopping the scene?”

“Shut up,” Roy jabbed, trying and failing to swallow his breathy laughter. “Before I decide to hit you again.”

“You were gonna do that anyway,” Ed chuckled, clumsily shifting his weight across the seat of the stool. Despite his confident act, Roy could still hear the tremors in Ed’s voice. He watched as the boy peeled his hands away from the wooden rung, shaking his palms out one at a time to try to return some feeling to his long-tightened muscles.

“Okay, okay,” Roy straightened back up, clearing his throat to try and reclaim some dignity. There were still a few stray giggles from Ed that had yet to be snuffed out. Roy returned his hand to the small of the boy’s back, effectively stilling him. “Are you ready to resume?”

“Yes,” Ed nodded, setting himself back into a rigid position. “Uh, _sir_.”

“ _Very_ good,” Roy praised, genuinely. He hoped Ed was getting just as much out of this experience as he was.

He brought the rod down again, striking into the vulnerable undercurve of Ed’s neatly-striped hide. In response, Ed’s body curled inward against the seat of the stool as if the boy was merely paper held over flame. His foot kicked out, flesh knee banging against the stool. Roy was glad he was holding the boy down, or he feared Ed might’ve knocked himself to the floor in his fussing.

“ _Gah—!_ Okay, okay, _eight,”_ Ed counted, his body slowly unfurling. “Thank you, sir.”

As expected, eight was about the packing limit when it came to strokes across Ed’s scrawny ass. Maybe he could’ve tried to pack those stripes in a little tighter, but he doubted even that would’ve done them much good.

“You have two more,” Roy improvised, switching the stick into his off-hand so he could run a gentle palm over the abused skin of Ed’s ass. It was hot to the touch, and he could hear Ed sucking in air through gritted teeth as his fingers graced the red, raised welts. “I want you on your toes now,” he instructed, and watched Ed hesitantly comply. “These two are going across your legs. I want to make sure you remember this lesson well.”

“Y-yes, sir,” Ed groaned, squirming uncomfortably under Roy’s palm. Roy wondered if he had actually understood the statement, or if he were merely willing to agree to anything to get Roy to remove his hand.

Roy pulled away, taking up the rod in his right hand again. He rested the implement against the top of the boy’s thighs and studied his reaction carefully. Ed flinched, but kept any complaints to himself. He supposed that was, again, Ed’s own version of stubborn consent.

He tapped the implement lightly against his target, drinking in the way the boy tightened and cowered beneath him. A tongue darted across his lips, a smirk tugging at his cheeks. Maybe they would never get another chance to play school like this, but Roy hoped this would be far from the last time they found themselves in these positions.

Another swing, another crack, another broken cry from Ed. He bounced up against the flat of Roy’s palm and dropped back down onto the flats of his feet.

“I said on your toes, Mr. Elric.”

Ed groaned, pushing himself back up with a grimace. “Ni- _iine…_ Thank you, sir…”

There were tremors in the child’s voice now, ones Roy felt he should not be drinking of so deeply. He doubted the boy had ever been hit with anything worse than a branch, which left a door of opportunity open to all sorts of new games. He had made something of a hobby out of making sure he was there for every one of Ed’s “firsts,” and suddenly, “firsts” seem to be in plentiful supply. He would have to remember to offer his gratitude to his schoolmasters if he ever saw any of those bastards again. They were of a gifted mind when it came to cruelty, and never before was he so thankful for their ingenuity when it came to corporal punishment. Coming from a private school was like working from a masochistic cheatsheet.

“I should be repeating that stroke as well,” Roy warned, watching Ed’s head pick up, those golden eyes assumedly wide at the mention of having to take any more than he had to. “It’s really a shame. Even now, I spoil you.”

He tapped the switch against the boy’s legs again, mercifully beneath the previous stroke. “This will be the last one. After this, I expect you to thank me properly.”

Ed nodded eagerly, and Roy could’ve sworn he heard a small sniffle.

“Yes, sir.”

Despite all of Roy’s past reservations, it was possible that perhaps Ed really was a good student. Or at the very least, had the makings of a good student buried somewhere deep inside his little body, beneath several layers of being a very, very bad student.

He let the last stroke be one he knew Ed would not soon forget. It snapped across his pale thighs like a whip, the soft skin beneath the implement catching fire on its wrath. Ed choked and gasped, writhing. Roy pushed his palm down against the boy’s back to steady him, fearing he may cause himself some actual damage if he took a tumble off that stool and smacked that brand-new arm against the hardwood. Roy was not so dense as to not grasp that he was already an unwelcome guest in this family, and he doubted bringing their eldest son home with a snapped radius would sweeten the deal.

“T- _ten!”_ Ed cried out, as if begging Roy to believe that he had truly had enough. “Thank you, sir! Thank you very much!”

Did he think that was what he meant by thanking him properly?

_How cute._

“You’re very welcome, Edward,” Roy replied, releasing the boy from his grip. Ed did not rise from the stool, instead he seemed to melt against it, dropping onto the flats of his feet as his knees slowly clicked together and his hands fell away from the crossbar. It was as if the thrashing had stolen all the strength from his body. “Now, let’s make sure we do not need to repeat this lesson anytime soon, shall we?”

Roy stepped away to give Ed room to stand whenever he was ready. He bowed the branch in his hands as far as he could until it snapped, the two halves only barely tethered together by the exposed green shoots. Ed flinched at the sound, but it did seem to have a strange effect on him. It was as though the crack had called him back to himself, back into reality. He lifted his head slowly, raising his hands to the seat of the stool and pushing himself to his full height. His legs were still weak beneath him, but at least he was on his feet again.

“Are we done?”

Roy wasn’t certain if that was meant to be in-character or not.

“With your punishment, yes. Unless you have anything else you would like to confess to me before we leave here,” Roy kept his tone silky and light. No more malice, only forgiveness. “Though I would not say we are ‘done’ here. You still need to make this right.”

“Huh? Oh, uh…” Ed sniffled again, and Roy could see now how glassy those golden eyes had become. There was a pinkness lining his lower lids, but his cheeks showed no sign of shed tears. “...’M sorry, sir. I’ll never do it again.”

“Is that all you want to say to me?” Roy asked, stopping by the threshold to toss the snapped branch into the grass. He delighted in the mental image of schoolchildren discovering it the next day, and wondering who amongst them had been the one to take it.

He turned back to Ed with a grin. “Step away from the stool a moment, would you?”

Ed nodded, straightening up with a soft groan. Roy cocked his head to admire the way the stripes across the boy’s legs moved with the shuddering of tired muscles. Ed stepped back, sneaking one hand to the hem of his shirt, tugging it shyly. As Roy had expected, the boy’s cock had taken an interest, standing on end like a dog that had heard its master offering a walk.

Roy crossed the room silently, closing the distance between them. Even now, Ed’s eyes were on the blackboard instead of him. Even now, he was as coy and evasive as he’d been the first time they’d done this together.

He cupped a hand under the boy’s erection, tutting softly. “Mm. I think we both got a little something extra out of this lesson.”

Ed remained silent, his lips a tight, thin line of shame.

“I think I have a better idea of how you can make this up to me, Mr. Elric.”

He felt the boy’s cock twitch against his palm, Ed’s breath coming out in a shudder. His eyes closed softly, golden lashes resting delicately against full, pink cheeks. Roy always thought they looked out of place on a boy, but he supposed a lot of Ed looked out of place. Too pretty to be a boy, too young to be a soldier, too precious to be so foul-mouthed, too perfect to be letting someone like Roy handle him so roughly.

“Do you understand what I’m asking of you?”

His eyes opened slowly, lifting his head so he could meet Roy’s gaze. “I… Yes, sir, I d—”

Ed stopped.

“...Ed?”

His eyes were no longer on Roy. They were locked on something past him, wide and curious. Roy followed his gaze, turning towards the open door of the classroom, hoping against hope that Ed had just had his four-second attention span stolen away by a passing deer or something.

Roy saw no one in the doorway, no one, until he directed his gaze downward. A black and white dog stared up at them with a deep, dark gaze.

“Oh. Would you look at that.”

The dog perked at the sound of Roy’s gently befuddled voice, bounding over playfully to investigate what treats may be hidden in Roy’s curled fingers. The sound Ed made as he stumbled away from the obtrusive touch of a shiny wet nose snuffling against his pubes was almost inhuman, like some strange sort of warbling bird instead of a boy.

_“No, Den—_ Down, girl! _Down!”_ Ed struggled, holding a hand out to the animal in an bold effort to end schoolyard sexual harassment. Den, as she was apparently called, halted with a curious cock of her head, as if uncertain why her boy would be so unwilling to play right now.

“Aw, Ed, don’t scold her, she didn’t mean anything by it,” Roy chuckled, kneeling to the animal’s height. “C’mere, girlie. You were just being sweet, weren’t you? Yes, you were just being a good girl.”

The dog was eager to find a human who was in a more playful mood, hurrying into Roy’s waiting hands eagerly to accept neck rubs and scratches behind the ears. Den relished in the attention, tongue lolling and panting joyously.

Ed kept one hand over his rigid cock like the animal may make moves towards it at any moment. “Okay, so, between _sex with me,_ or _playing with the dog,_ you picked—”

“Brother?” A gentle voice called from outside. “Are you guys out here?”

It took a moment for the panic to set in properly.

_“Oh my fucking god—”_ Ed choked out, scrambling for the pants gathered around his knees and trying to remember how to work a belt buckle. “Fuck, fuck, fuck _— I can’t believe I let you talk me into this—”_

Roy bit his lip, head swiveling around the room like an owl, hunting for some sort of diversion or excuse for what was happening here. He got to his feet quickly, disappointing Den, who seemed concerned as to why her new playmate was ignoring her all of a sudden. Ed was desperately trying to get himself dressed again while Roy hurried to the front of the room and grabbed the largest book he could find off the desk.

_“Catch,”_ he said, tossing the book in Ed’s direction. The boy understood the order immediately, snatching the book out of the air and taking a hurried seat on the stool. He dropped the book into his lap and kept his knees shut tight, forcing on what he hoped was a far more casual expression. Roy followed suit, leaning back against the desk and crossing his arms as if they’d been engaged in what hopefully looked like a very normal conversation between two men standing five feet apart in a perfectly chaste fashion.

They had barely enough time to catch their breath before Alphonse limped into view, poking his head into the schoolhouse curiously.

“Oh, here you are. Did you guys not hear me calling?”

“Ah, was that what that was?” Roy improvised. “I thought I heard something. Sorry, we were just… talking.”

Alphonse didn’t seem to be listening too intently, casting wide, wondering eyes around the classroom with the same enthusiasm Ed had when they’d first arrived. “Wow… It hasn’t changed a bit, huh, Brother?”

“Yeah, we were just saying that…” Ed chuckled half-heartedly, offering his brother a… well, Ed probably thought of that smile as “reassuring.” “Wait— Did you come all the way out here _by yourself?_ Al, you can’t just—”

Ed made a move as if to stand and steady his brother, but Roy shot him a look that reminded him why he was sitting there in the first place.

Al responded with a laugh. It was good to see Alphonse up and walking, just as it had been good to finally have a face to put to the name. “It’s alright, Brother! Granny told me I should come looking for you. I’m never gonna get any strength back in these legs if I just stay in bed all day. And besides,” He gestured to Den with a smile. “Best escort in Resembool, remember?”

“Yeah, only if Den’s willing to carry you back home…” Ed said, gently concerned. Having grown up without siblings, Roy wondered if this level of consideration was normal for brothers, or something entirely unique to the two boys. “It’s _uphill,_ Al…”

“Teacher’s put us through worse, right?” Al shrugged off his brother’s concern kindly, exploring the old schoolhouse with a nostalgic reverence. “Besides, you should be worrying about _yourself_. Granny said she’d lick you stupid if you were late for supper again.”

Ed’s eyes widened, turning to Roy with a panicked look. Roy could only offer an apologetic smile and an awkward shrug in return.

“Then, uh, I’ll go on ahead—” Ed chirped, hopping to his feet and hurrying to the exit. He paused with both hands planted on the doorframe, calling back over his shoulder, “Roy, uh— Colonel, uh— _shit_ , you can make sure Al gets home okay, right? That’s fine? Alright, perfect, I’ll see you guys back at the house!”

Roy hadn’t responded in the slightest, but Ed hadn’t seemed to notice. He was already booking it back towards the main road.

_“You’re not gonna wait for us—_ Oh, well…” Al gave up calling after him, resigning himself to making the journey back a half-mile behind his brother. “...He’s so irresponsible.”

Roy chuckled at the younger boy’s blatancy.

“Yeah. He was telling me about how much trouble he used to cause around this place,” Roy said, watching Alphonse rest himself against the first row of desks. He supposed with the assistance of Al’s so-called escort, he could probably manage to make it back to the Rockbell home with the same amount of limbs they’d all left it with. “It’s good to know I’m not the only one he ever tormented.”

“Well, you probably got the worst of it…” Al laughed, glancing down at the scratched and worn surface of the desk. Roy watched fearfully as Al’s gaze fell upon the abandoned slate lying beside him. Den crossed to the boy’s side, forcing her head under the boy’s palm and receiving absent-minded pets for her effort while Al focused the rest of his attention on the slate.

Alphonse lifted the object questionably, a light dusting of pink across his hollow cheeks. With a hot burst of shame, Roy recognized his own crude masterpiece scribbled across the surface.

“So, uh… What were you guys doing in here, exactly…?”

**Author's Note:**

> I just want to say that when I started this, I so fully and completely believed I could fit it in 3k. That did not happen.


End file.
